Corpus et Animus
by Trinity Day
Summary: Complete A spell gone awry leaves both Grace and Ivy acting strangely. SamGrace and SamIvy.
1. Strange Dreams

**Disclaimer: I do not belong the characters or anything else you recognize in this fic. Passions belongs to NBC, JER and a couple of other people, I'm sure. I am not making any money off of this. I write fanfic purely for pleasure, although I'm not opposed to receiving feedback :) **

**Posted: Sunday, March 24, 2002**

**Summary: A spell gone awry leaves both Grace and Ivy acting strangely. Sam/Grace and Sam/Ivy.**

**Note: This is my first Passions fanfic. I hope you enjoy. It takes place after Grace and John did the DNA test to determine whether or not he was her son, but since it doesn't deal with any of the stuff after Theresa declares herself Mrs. Julian Crane, let's just say it branches off there.**

* * *

**Corpus et Animus  
Part 1/?**

__

The first thing she noticed when she woke was that her legs were numb. Thinking she had slept on them the wrong way, cutting off the supply of blood, she tried to shift. When she realized that it wasn't just that her legs were numb, but that she couldn't actually feel them, she began to panic.

Stretching her arm out to shake her husband awake, her hand met air. He wasn't there. Her breath caught in her throat and she dragged herself over to the side of the bed where there ought to have been a lamp on the bedside table. It, too, was gone. With a stifled cry, she desperately flung herself over to the other side of the bed, hoping she was somehow confused and the lamp was really there. It was, but she overreached the mark and knocked the lamp onto the floor. It shattered, the noise muffled somewhat by the carpet, but still ear shattering in the thick silence of the dead of the night.

There was a furious scramble outside and about a minute later the door flung open. She moved her arm in front of her face, shielding her eyes from the sudden flood of light.

"Mrs. Crane? Are you all right?" the maid asked fearfully.

As the woman on the bed slowly lowered her arm, her eyes becoming accustomed to the light, the maid, all the more worried for not having been answered, asked again, "Mrs. Crane? What happened? Are you hurt?"

Stunned into silence, Grace Bennett could only stare at Ivy's maid in horror.

* * *

Sam moved quietly, trying his best not to wake his sleeping wife. He was unsuccessful. As he riffled through the stuff on top of the dresser, looking for the police badge he had thrown there the night before, Grace's eyes fluttered open.

She stared at him questioningly for a few minutes, although Sam didn't notice because his back was turned to her. Finally, in a soft, bewildered voice, she asked, "Sam?"

He turned. "Morning, sweetheart." He went over and kisser her on her forehead. Grace didn't move, although her eyes never left her husband. Sam straightened and asked, "Is something wrong, Grace?"

"No," she answered. The look that Sam gave her clearly showed that he didn't accept her denial, so she elaborated. "Just - dreams. I . . . had a strange dream. I guess that just threw me off." She forced a laugh.

Sam's brow furrowed. "Strange dreams? What about?"

"Nothing." Grace shook her head.

"Grace," Sam said warningly, "you can tell me."

"You'd just think I was being silly," Grace said.

Sam sat down on the bed and took her hand in his. "You can tell me, I won't think you're being silly."

Grace bit her lip. "It was silly. Nothing, really. I just dreamt Ivy - "

"Ivy?" Sam asked sharply. "Grace, are you sure it was just a dream? Are you sure it wasn't a vision, maybe? Do you think Ivy's up to something again? Is she going to try to hatch another scheme to break us up? Because you know you're the only one for me. Nothing Ivy'll do - "

Grace snatched her hand away and quickly said, "It wasn't that." She looked away. "It wasn't anything like that."

"Are you sure?" Sam asked. "Ivy's very persistent, you know."

Grace scowled. "It wasn't a vision and Ivy's got another plan to break us up."

"You're right," Sam agreed. Grace looked at him, slightly surprised, not having expected him to agree with her. "Ivy will probably wait until David and John are exposed as imposters before starting something else."

"Sam," Grace chided. "I don't believe Ivy could have hired David and John. John's my son. I know it."

"We can wait for the DNA test to come in," Sam said, unconvinced.

"The DNA test will only prove what I already know," Grace said stubbornly. "I know that John is my son in here." She placed a hand over her heart. "I know it in my heart."

"We'll see." Sam stood up. "Now I have to go to work. I'll see you tonight, Grace." He kissed her goodbye"

"I love you," Grace said.

Sam paused, his hand on the doorknob. "I love you too." He left, closing the door behind him.

In bed, Grace pulled the blankets around her and did not go back to sleep.

* * *

"You're up late, mom," Jessica commented when her mom came into the kitchen sometime later. She, Kay and Charity were sitting at the breakfast table.

Grace stifled a yawn and answered, "I had some pretty strange dreams last night."

"Nightmares?"

"No," Grace said, a little reluctant to explain, "just strange."

Looking up for the first time from her compact mirror where she was checking out her impeccable makeup for any blemishes, Charity said, "Good. You're all right. Then you can make us breakfast."

Grace froze. "Breakfast?" she asked in a strained voice.

"Yeah, mom," Kay said sarcastically, "breakfast. The time when we eat food first thing in the morning. The most important meal of the day."

"Kay!" Jessica chided her sister. "Don't be sarcastic."

Kay looked at her sister sullenly, but didn't talk back.

"Don't talk to your sister like that," Grace said absently.

Both Kay and Jessica looked at their mother, dumbfounded. (Charity had gone back to looking at herself in the mirror.) Neither of them could remember a time when Grace had taken Kay's side, particularly not when it came to Kay's habit of making sarcastic remarks. Grace had turned to the counter and missed this.

"Mom," Kay said, genuine concern in her voice, "are you sure you're feeling okay?"

"Yes," Grace snapped. She held the bread bag in her hand. "I'm fine. I'm just feeling a little off today. All right? Now where is the toaster?"

Kay looked at her mother, mystified. "Where it always is." She pointed to the appliance, sitting in its usual place beside the stove. Chagrined, Grace went over to it and put some bread in to be toasted.

While waiting for the bread to pop, Grace went over to the fridge to find something to drink. She spotted a half-empty carton of orange juice near the back and pulled it out. Pouring herself a glass, she idly wondered what was taking the toast so long. When she finished the orange juice, she realized something was wrong when she smelled something burning.

"Mom!" Jessica yelled. "The toast!" Her youngest daughter ran over to the toaster and forced the toast up. The slices of bread had been burnt black. She turned to her mother accusingly. "What were you thinking? You know the toaster doesn't pop by itself anymore."

"I forgot," Grace said weakly. "I'm a little out of it today. I guess my dreams disturbed me a little more than I thought they did."

"That's okay," Charity said, finally folding up her mirror. "I felt like waffles anyway." She plastered a big, cheery smile on her face.

Grace stared at her niece. "Are you kidding? I just burnt the toast! I can't make waffles."

Jessica looked between her mother and her cousin uncertainly. "I'm sure Charity didn't mean that, mom. I'm sure she just wanted to help."

At the table, Kay snorted into her cereal. She, at least, was independent enough to make herself breakfast in the morning.

Charity only smiled even further. "Of course, silly!" she exclaimed. "I was only trying to make Aunt Grace feel better about burning the toast. Of course she doesn't have to make us waffles."

"See?" Jessica asked. "I knew you misunderstood."

"I'm sorry, Charity. I overreacted," said Grace.

"It's okay, Aunt Grace," Charity gushed. "I know you aren't feeling well and I would_ never_ ask you to make me something to eat when you weren't feeling well. Here." She got up and shepherded her aunt over to the table. "You sit down and rest. We can grab something to eat over at the Lopez-Fitzgerald's."

Her words registered with her aunt after Grace had sat down. "What? But you'll be late for school."

Kay, who had been sitting quietly, trying her best not to let the disgust she felt at everyone fawning over Charity as usual show, said, "It's Spring Break. We don't have school."

There was an awkward silence, then Grace said, "Oh."

"Maybe you should lie down," Jessica said, very concerned.

"Maybe I should," Grace agreed faintly.

"We're meeting with Miguel and Reese over at Miguel's house," Jessica informed her mother. "We'll be back around three or so. Call us if you need anything, okay?"

"I will," Grace promised. She smiled at her daughters and her niece. "Have fun."

"We will," Charity promised.

But when the girls had left, Grace did not lie down as she said she would. After tidying up the kitchen a bit, putting the dirty dishes into the sink, she went into the living room and pulled out a couple of old photo albums and started to flip through them. She paused at one of Sam in his uniform, smiling wistfully, letting her fingers trace the contours of his face.

The phone rang, breaking her trance. She carefully set the album back onto the table and went to answer it.

"Hello? Bennett residence."

"What have you done?" It took her a second to recognize the hysterical voice as belonging to Ivy Crane.

"Ivy? Is that you?"

"I want my body back, _Ivy_!"

End of Part One  
Sunday, March 24, 2002

_Don't forget to review!_


	2. Starlight

**Disclaimer: I do not belong the characters or anything else you recognize in this fic. Passions belongs to NBC, JER and a couple of other people, I'm sure. I am not making any money off of this. I write fanfic purely for pleasure, although I'm not opposed to receiving feedback :)**

**Posted: Sunday, April 7, 2002**

**Summary: A spell gone awry leaves both Grace and Ivy acting strangely. Sam/Grace and Sam/Ivy.**

**Note: This is my first Passions fanfic. I hope you enjoy. It takes place after Grace and John did the DNA test to determine whether or not he was her son, but since it doesn't deal with any of the stuff after Theresa declares herself Mrs. Julian Crane, let's just say it branches off there.**

**Thank you to andrea, JupiterHime, AshleyTara and Katie for reviewing the first part.**

**Also note that I have Support Services. That means that if you want to receive notice of when the next part is out, add me to your Author Alerts. Even if you don't have Support Services, you will receive an e-mail when I update.**

* * *

**Corpus et Animus  
Part 2/5**

"What?" Grace asked. "What are you talking about? Is that you, Ivy?"

"It's not Ivy, it's Grace," the voice on the other line said in obvious distress. "And you know it, Ivy. You stole my body."

Grace twirled the phone cord around her finger. "I don't know what you're talking about Ivy, but I think maybe you should go see Eve. The pain has obviously gotten to you."

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. And stop calling me Ivy! You're Ivy; I'm Grace." The woman was starting to lose control.

"Look," Grace said firmly. "I don't know what you're playing at, Ivy, but you're starting to scare me. I'm going to hang up now."

"Don't you dare," she said threateningly. "Don't you dare hang up on me."

"Good bye, Ivy," Grace said.

"Ivy! Don't - " She was cut off as Grace hung the phone back onto the hook. She wasn't the least bit surprised when it rang again only a few seconds later.

Although she was pretty sure who it was, it was no reason to keep from answering politely. There was always the slim chance that it _wasn't_ Ivy, after all. "Bennett residence," she said when she picked up the phone.

"We weren't finished, Ivy!" Grace could barely make out the words, the voice was so hysterical.

"Ivy, I don't know what you're talking about, but you're scaring me. Good bye." She briefly hung up the phone, but only long enough to disconnect the call with Ivy. Then she took the phone off the hook again, resting it on the counter. A busy signal would only be a tiny annoyance to anyone who tried to call; Ivy ringing the phone off the hook all day would be a much bigger annoyance to Grace.

She finished cleaning the kitchen and went upstairs to her room.

* * *

When Sam came home from work that evening he found his wife waiting for him in the kitchen. She was wearing a hunter green sundress and sandals on her feet and he wondered what the occasion was. He dropped his keys on the table as she came over, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him softly on the lips.

"What's all this about?" he asked when she took a step back.

"The kids are at Miguel's house, they won't be back until ten. I made us a picnic dinner." He saw the basket sitting on the counter behind her. "It's a beautiful spring day and I thought we could go to the park, wait for the sunset and then maybe watch the stars come out. It'll be just like old times."

"We've never done that before," Sam said, slightly bemused.

"All the more reason to do it now," Grace answered glibly.

"I don't know," Sam started doubtfully, but he stopped when he saw the disappointed expression on Grace's face.

"Please. When's the last time we went out on a real date?" She paused only for a second, not giving Sam the time to think that far back. "Too long. Please, Sam."

He couldn't deny her, not when she asked like that. "Okay," he said, taking delight in the smile that broke out across her face. As she grabbed the basket and her coat, he asked, "What brought this on?"

She gave him the basket to hold while she got her coat on. "Charity," she told him. "Her problems with Miguel lately. I realized that you can love a person with all your heart but then wake up one day and find out that they don't love you back."

"You know that could never happen to us," Sam assured her quickly. He hoped she wasn't having doubts about him and Ivy again. She smiled sadly, but did not answer. Sam wrapped his arms around her. "I love you Grace," he said.

"I love you too, Sam," she whispered.

"Come on," he said. "We have a sunset to watch." Her smile was now genuine and he took her by the hand as they walked to the park.

The view from the spot that Grace had chosen was spectacular, but something about it was bothering Sam, although he couldn't put his finger on what it was. After the meal, they lay on the ground and Sam held his wife in his arms as together they watched the sun slowly sink down below the horizon. It wasn't until the sun had set completely and Sam could barely see anymore that he realized what was wrong - he and Grace were resting barely a stone's throw away from the rock where he and Ivy had left their love letters so many years ago.

He shifted uncomfortably. "What's wrong?" Grace asked drowsily.

"Nothing," he lied. "My arm's just falling asleep."

She rolled over so that she was facing him, their bodies inches away from each other. "Let's dance," she said.

Sam was taken aback. "What?"

"Dance," she repeated impatiently. "We can dance under the stars. It'll be so romantic. And it'll wake up your arm."

Sam didn't know what else to say, so he pointed out, "There aren't any stars out yet."

"They'll be out soon," she argued. Standing up, she held her arms out, waiting for him to get to feet. "Look! There's one now." She pointed to the sky where there was a faint light, barely visible, but there. Closing her eyes, she recited, "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight. I wish that our love - Sam's and my love for each other - will remain strong and true for ever and ever, and never lessen or break. I wish that he will always love me as much as I love him."

Sam pulled her into his arms. "You know I will always love you."

"And I will always love you," she replied, staring deep into his eyes. "I always have."

He kissed her and they started to sway to the song of the stars themselves, inaudible except to the two lovers. When it was over, he lay her gingerly on the ground and, leaving a trail of kisses down her neck, began to unbutton her dress. Things would have progressed further, but suddenly Grace shivered violently.

The spell was momentarily broken and they laughed. Grace started to button her dress back up. "It's a bit colder than I thought it would be," she admitted. "Maybe we should get home before you have to arrest me for indecent exposure, _Chief_ Bennett."

"I'll have to arrest both of us," he said, pulling her off the ground. He took off his jacket and put it on her.

"Always the gentleman," she teased.

"Let's get home," he said.

No one else was there, but it was still early so Sam didn't worry about the kids. Besides, they were on vacation and it wouldn't hurt them if they stayed out a bit late for once.

"I'll go get you a sweater," Sam offered. Grace followed him up to the bedroom.

"I don't need a sweater," she said. "I can think of other ways to stay warm." She took off his jacket, letting it fall to the floor in a heap. Then she slowly began to unbutton her dress as she made her way over to the bed, leaving no doubt in Sam's mind as to what 'other ways' she was talking about to keep warm. "Now, where were we?"

A passionate kiss reminded them both of just where exactly they had left off.

After a passionate, yet tender bout of lovemaking, they lay in each other's arms, not speaking. Sam yawned, his eyes fluttering. He was quickly succumbing to the need to sleep. Grace curled up beside him, her own breathing deep and regular.

"I love you Sam," she murmured, already sounding more than half asleep. The small part of Sam's brain that was still awake heard her, but it took one minute to register and a second minute to realize a response was necessary.

"I love you, too." He drifted off. The final thing he said before drifting off completely was, "Ivy."

Lost to sleep, he didn't hear his wife's gasp, nor did he know that she, having had been even more asleep than he, was suddenly wide awake, wondering if she had heard what she thought she had heard or if she had just been dreaming.

Sam was the only one who got any sleep that night.

End Part 2


	3. Strange and Disturbing

**Disclaimer: I do not belong the characters or anything else you recognize in this fic. Passions belongs to NBC, JER and a couple of other people, I'm sure. I am not making any money off of this. I write fanfic purely for pleasure, although I'm not opposed to receiving feedback :)**

**Posted: Sunday, June 16, 2002 (or would have been, if ff.n was feeling well)**

** Summary: A spell gone awry leaves both Grace and Ivy acting strangely. Sam/Grace and Sam/Ivy.**

**Note: This is my first Passions fanfic. I hope you enjoy. It takes place after Grace and John did the DNA test to determine whether or not he was her son, but since it doesn't deal with any of the stuff after Theresa declares herself Mrs. Julian Crane, let's just say it branches off there. I have, however, messed with the timeline a bit and had Grace's conversation about Kay's feelings for Miguel happen already.**

**Thank you to andrea (_Glad you're enjoying it_), JupiterHime (**_**I had hoped that the second part would clear things up, not make them more confusing! Hopefully this helps a bit. If not, well all will be explained in the next part or two**_**), AshleyTara (I_'m a fan of Sam and Ivy, too, as you may be able to tell_), Kathryn (_umm . . . same as for AshleyTara_) and addiebabie (_twice!_) for reviewing the second part.**

**Sorry it took so long to get out. I was stuck on the same paragraph for about a month until I finally sucked it up, deleted a bunch of what I'd written and tried again. This time, it worked.**

**Also note that I have Support Services. That means that if you want to receive notice of when the next part is out, add me to your Author Alerts. Even if you don't have Support Services, you will receive an e-mail when I update.**

* * *

**Corpus et Animus  
Part 3/4 or 5**

Kay always felt weird when she was home alone. It happened so rarely, especially since their house seemed to have more and more people living in it every day. At the very least, usually her mother was around, cooking, cleaning or doing one of the other 'motherly' things Grace loved to do. Technically speaking, Kay wasn't home alone, but both her parents were still in bed - an oddity considering Sam and Grace were both early birds.

Jessica was over at Miguel's house, because she and Simone had come up with a "perfect idea" - their words, not Kay's - for getting Charity back together with Miguel. It had been Kay's job to distract Charity, which suited her just fine, not being able to stomach the idea of trying to get Miguel back together with Charity. She hadn't done a very good job. Although she had kept the blonde away from the Lopez-Fitzgerald house, Kay hadn't been able to command the zombie and she currently had no idea where her creation was. It had been awhile since Kay had been able to control the zombie completely and she was starting to get scared. Her last attempt had flopped, so it seemed. It had been well over twenty-four hours and nothing had happened, and she was sure that if it were going to work, it would have worked by now.

Kay stomped around noisily, quite content with being miserable. Everything was slipping out of her control and she was no closer to getting Miguel than she had been before. The noise must have alerted her mother, for seconds later Grace came waltzing through the kitchen door and into the living room.

"What's wrong, dear?" Grace asked. There was an odd element to her voice and it took Kay a minute to recognize it: dreamy. Her mom was barely paying any attention to her. Inside, Kay seethed. Wasn't that typical!

"Nothing," Kay replied sullenly, crossing her arms.

Grace arched an eyebrow magnificently. All her attention now on her eldest daughter, she commended, "Sit." Kay was a bit surprised at herself; she obeyed without a single word in protest. She was even more surprised when her mother sat down beside her and her face softened significantly. "So what's wrong?"

"I told you, nothing."

Again, her mother lifted her eyebrow. Kay wondered when she had learned such an impressive trick. "Kay, I'm not stupid." She sighed, then tried another tack. "Where's your sister and your cousin?" she asked with uncharacteristic insight.

"I have no idea where Charity is," Kay answered truthfully - well, almost. Although she knew where the real Charity was, she had no idea where her imposter might be hiding. "Jessica . . . she's at Miguel's."

Grace lovingly brushed a loose strand of Kay's hair back behind her ear. "Miguel's. And why aren't you there?"

Kay jerked back. "Don't start that again," she said bitterly.

"Start what?" her mother asked in a slightly clipped, no nonsense voice.

"I don't care that you think Miguel and Charity are perfect for each other. I don't see why everyone thinks what they have is true love, but what I feel is only a stupid crush. I love him."

"Sometimes love isn't enough," Grace said softly. "I used to think that your father and I . . . " she trailed off. Kay snapped out of her self-pity and stared at her mother with some apprehension.

"Are you and daddy . . . is everything all right? Are you guys fighting again?" she asked, hating that she sounded like an insecure three year old, but not being able to help it.

Grace seemed to realize that she had said something that she shouldn't have. "What?" she asked guiltily. "No, of course not. Don't be ridiculous."

If she didn't know her mom didn't lie, Kay would have thought she was lying through her teeth. "What I _meant_," Grace clarified, "is that we've gone through some tough times together. We've had to work hard to stay together." Her eyes bored into her daughter. "If you love somebody, you sometimes have to fight to keep them. In a perfect world, love would be enough, but it's not and it isn't."

A cheerful whistling broke the solemn atmosphere and as Grace looked up to watch Sam come down the stairs, Kay knew she had been forgotten and the brief camaraderie with her mother, which had not been so strong in years - if ever - as it had for that conversation, disappeared.

"How're two of my favourite girls this morning?" he asked, coming into the room. Her mother giggled - _giggled_ - as Sam came over, pulled her off the couch and twirled her around. When he put her down again, they settled in for a long, passionate kiss.

Kay started to think about the best way to escape without being noticed. She needn't have worried. When her parents finally pulled apart, Sam asked, "So have you given any thoughts to how to spend my day off?"

"I thought we'd already decided that," Grace said huskily.

"Well, it's hardly any fun to spend the entire day in the bedroom alone," Sam said chidingly. "After you left, my plans changed."

As soon as the words registered with Kay, she gave up subtlety entirely and instead ran - not that her parents noticed her anyway; they were too wrapped up in themselves. She shuddered when she got outside: there were some things that teenagers just shouldn't see, and watching her parents have foreplay was one of them.

* * *

Grace couldn't wake from her nightmare. No matter how many times she pinched herself, how many times she closed her eyes and willed it all to go away, she still was in Ivy Crane's house, wearing Ivy Crane's clothes, in Ivy Crane's body. Worst was that no one believed her. Eve had already sedated her twice - _Eve!_ - her supposed best friend, who couldn't even tell the difference between Grace and Ivy.

The doctor was outside her door, along with a few others. Grace could hear their low voices penetrate the closed door and float through the dark room, reaching her ears even in her semi-drugged state.

"Dr. Russell," Ethan asked impatiently, "what is wrong with my mother?"

"I _told_ you, Ethan," Eve said with a touch of impatience herself, "it's too early to know anything for sure."

Rebecca's shrill voice pierced the air; she wasn't bothering to keep her voice down as the others were. "What's to know? Ivy finally went off the deep end. We should bundle her up and send her to the loony bin."

"Mother!" a soft, but clearly mortified voice said. It took Grace a few minutes to realize it must be Gwen.

"Don't 'mother' me, Gwen," Rebecca said, voice still annoyingly shrill especially to Grace's hazy mind. "I'm just saying what we all know: Ivy's gone cuckoo."

"All I want to know is how you're going to make her better!" Ethan exclaimed, his voice also rising.

"Ethan," Eve tried to explain, sounding harassed, "I'm no psychiatrist. I don't know why Ivy Crane has suddenly started to halluc - "

"She's not Ivy Crane! _I'm_ Mrs. Crane!" Rebecca shrieked.

"Mother!" Gwen shouted, clearly embarrassed. "This is neither the time nor the place."

"Gwen is right," Eve said firmly. "As long as she continues to be violent, I'll keep her sedated. At least until we can get a psychiatrist in to examine her. Then . . . "

Grace never did find out what Eve planned to do with her then because she finally gave into the drugs and drifted off to sleep.

End Part Three


	4. Explanations

**Disclaimer: I do not belong the characters or anything else you recognize in this fic. Passions belongs to NBC, JER and a couple of other people, I'm sure. I am not making any money off of this. I write fanfic purely for pleasure, although I'm not opposed to receiving feedback :)**

**Posted: Sunday June 8, 2003**

** Summary: A spell gone awry leaves both Grace and Ivy acting strangely. Sam/Grace and Sam/Ivy.**

**Note: This is my first Passions fanfic. I hope you enjoy. It takes place after Grace and John did the DNA test to determine whether or not he was her son, but since it doesn't deal with any of the stuff after Theresa declares herself Mrs. Julian Crane, let's just say it branches off there. I have, however, messed with the timeline a bit and had Grace's conversation about Kay's feelings for Miguel happen already.**

**It's been almost a year since I last wrote this. Sorry. The next (and final) part will be out within the week, I promise.**

**Also note that I have Support Services. That means that if you want to receive notice of when the next part is out, add me to your Author Alerts. Even if you don't have Support Services, you will receive an e-mail when I update.**

* * *

**Corpus et Animus  
Part 4/6**

"Good morning," Zombie Charity chirped, coming into Tabitha's house uninvited.

"Oh, great," Tabitha muttered to Timmy. "It's Zombie Blondie."

"If it isn't my favourite washed-up witch and her little doll," Zombie Charity said as she entered the living room.

"Timmy isn't a doll," the former plaything said. "Timmy's a real boy."

"Whatever, Pinocchio," Zombie said, dismissing the boy. "I don't care about your little melodrama. What I'm worried about is Kay. She's up to something, I know it."

"Kay is usually up to something," Tabitha said, "and it often involves a scheme to try to break up Charity and Miguel so she can have Miguel for herself."

"I am that scheme, remember?" Zombie Charity said. "No, it's something more. She's starting to really get on my nerves. I'm sure she's going to try something, real soon." She clasped her hands together. "Oh, but the good news is, something's up with Grace."

"What is wrong with kind Grace?" Timmy asked.

"I don't know," Zombie Charity said dismissively. "Something. She's not acting like her old, goody-two-shoes self. She burned breakfast yesterday morning, didn't even make supper for us last night, and slept in this morning."

"Grace Bennett? Burn something?" Tabitha asked incredulously. "Now I've heard everything."

"No, something's up with dear 'Aunt' Grace," Zombie Charity mused. "And I'm sure our friends in the basement will tell me what it is."

* * *

Ivy was having the time of her life. It was as if all of her dreams had come true, and more. She was finally married to Sam Bennett and he loved her very much. Okay, so he thought that she was Grace, but that was only a minor setback. She knew if she kept on reminding him of all the great times they had shared, he would come to realize that he loved her - Ivy - not Grace. Then she would tell him the truth and they would live happily ever after, as they should have all those years ago.

The only problem was, once Sam did realize he was in love with Ivy, not Grace, how was she going to get her body back? Ivy had looked into the mirror the other morning and saw Grace Bennett's face staring back. She had no idea how she'd gotten there, but she'd be damned if she wasn't going to take advantage of the situation. All she needed was a little more time and she knew Sam would be hers forever.

Her plan was already working. They had gone to the beach today and she had caught him staring off into the ocean, doubtlessly remembering how he had saved her life that magical summer so many years ago. And the other night they had almost made love in the spot where they had hidden their love letters.

Yes, everything was going according to plan.

* * *

"Hello?" Kay called out into the seemingly empty house. "Tabitha? Timmy? Is anybody home?" There was no answer, which suited Kay just fine. What she needed to do could be better accomplished without her strange neighbour and even stranger nephew in the house. Entering the house, Kay made her way up the stairs into the attic.

"Now where is that book?" she asked her self, looking around. "It has to be around here somewhere."

A few minutes spent rifling through her neighbour's belongings and Kay let out a "Aha!" holding up her prize triumphantly at the same time a young voice asked, "What's Kay doing in Tabby's attic?"

Kay turned, hiding the book behind her back. Tabitha's nephew, Timmy, was standing in the doorway with his hands on his hips, looking at Kay accusingly. Tabitha herself followed a second later. "Kay Bennett!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"I didn't think anyone was home," Kay said lamely, knowing it wasn't a real explanation. "I just needed to borrow something. It was very urgent. The door was unlocked but there was no answer. I would have asked if you were here."

"I don't doubt that," Tabitha said. "Now what was so important that you had to come into my house when I wasn't here to get?"

Reluctantly, Kay pulled the book out from behind her back and held it out to the elder lady. Tabitha took it with apparent confusion. "Timmy, why don't you go get us something to drink," she said, distractedly dismissing the small boy. She looked down at the cover as Timmy went back downstairs. "_Spells of Suffering_? This isn't my book."

That stopped Kay. "Sure it is. I've seen it here before lots of times. I _found_ it in your attic. What do you mean, it's not yours?"

"No, dearie," Tabitha corrected her, "this isn't my book. I do have an old family heirloom, I think I've seen lying around - _Spells of Pain_ - but this isn't it. I don't know where this could have come from." She began to thumb through the pages, stopping where the book wanted to open naturally due to a slight crease in the pages. "It looks like somebody's idea of a joke. The spells don't match up with the descriptions, even. Take this one for example. It promises to bring an unruly child back under control but it's a _Corpus et Animus _spell."

"A corporate animal what?" Kay asked, puzzled.

"It's Latin. _Corpus et Animus_. I suppose they don't teach Latin in the schools anymore. It's a shame; Latin's such a useful language," Tabitha clucked.

Kay resisted the urge to roll her eyes at old woman's griping. Latin was considered a dead language for a reason and why anyone would think it useful was beyond Kay. Instead, she said, "Okay. _Corpus et Animus_," she mimicked. "What does it mean?"

"Body and Spirit. It's a body-swapping spell," Tabitha explained. She looked back down at the book in her hand and shook her head. "And not a very good one at that."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean it isn't permanent, and it would break too easily. Only a fool would use this as a body-switching spell. Well, if magic was real, obviously." Tabitha's tone changed drastically with that pronouncement, almost as if she were embarrassed to be caught talking about magic and spells, which Kay might have agreed with if she didn't know firsthand that it was real. "It's all a bunch of poppycock." Tabitha handed the book back to Kay. "You can take it if you want. As I said, it isn't mine. What did you need it for anyway?"

Kay took the book while trying to think up a reasonable excuse. "It's for . . . a school project. Umm, how would the spell break?"

Tabitha waved the question away with a dismissive flick of the wrist. "It's not really real, Kay. How should I know how the spell would break?"

"Well, thanks anyway," Kay said more because it was what was expected and her mother would kill her if she found out she wasn't polite to her elderly neighbour.

"Anytime, dearie," Tabitha said, seemingly obviously to Kay's disappointment.

She ran into Timmy, who was carrying a tray of what looked to be martinis up to the attic, on the way out, but didn't stop. She had a sinking feeling that she knew what was going on.

* * *

"Where is Kay going, Princess?" Timmy asked after the teen had fled the attic. "Timmy made some of his MarTimmys but she left before Timmy could give them to her."

"It's just as well, Timmy," Tabitha answered. "This way, there's more for me." She took a glass and, after taking a long drink, threw back her head and laughed.

"Timmy wants to know what his Princess finds so funny," the doll-turned-boy asked.

"Kay is in a spot of trouble. We don't need to wait for Zombie Blondie to come back with the news from our friends in the basement; Kay's the one behind all the trouble. Accidentally, for once."

"What does Princess mean?" Timmy asked, taking a MarTimmy himself.

"You'll see," Tabitha crowed. "You'll see." Taking a second drink, she led the boy to her scrying glass. As the two crowded over the reflective surface, the Bennett's living room slowly came into view. The entire town was assembled there, it seemed, and they were just waiting for one last person to arrive.

At last, the body of Grace Bennett came through the front door.

End Part Four


	5. Confrontation

**Disclaimer: I do not belong the characters or anything else you recognize in this fic. Passions belongs to NBC, JER and a couple of other people, I'm sure. I am not making any money off of this. I write fanfic purely for pleasure, although I'm not opposed to receiving feedback :)**

**Posted: Thursday, June 19, 2003**

** Summary: A spell gone awry leaves both Grace and Ivy acting strangely. Sam/Grace and Sam/Ivy.**

**Note: This is my first Passions fanfic. I hope you enjoy. It takes place after Grace and John did the DNA test to determine whether or not he was her son, but since it doesn't deal with any of the stuff after Theresa declares herself Mrs. Julian Crane, let's just say it branches off there. I have, however, messed with the timeline a bit and had Grace's conversation about Kay's feelings for Miguel happen already.**

**Only the epilogue left to come.**

**Also note that I have Support Services. That means that if you want to receive notice of when the next part is out, add me to your Author Alerts. Even if you don't have Support Services, you will receive an e-mail when I update.**

* * *

**Corpus et Animus  
Part 5/6**

While intellectually Ivy knew that her stint in Grace's body couldn't go on indefinitely without anyone finding out, fear still seized her when she entered the Bennett's living room and saw everyone gathered there, staring at her with the hateful glare she was very used to receiving in her own body. Just in case she was mistaken, she swallowed the cold lump that had formed in her throat and asked, "What's going on?"

"Save it, _Ivy_," the wheelchair-bound blonde spat. "They know."

"Sam?" Ivy sought out her love's face and was hurt - if not surprised - to see his anger.

"What did you do to her? What did you do to my wife?"

"I didn't do anything," Ivy insisted, dropping all pretenses. There was no point in continuing the act.

"Don't play innocent with us, Ivy," Eve sneered. "We know you're you and we know Grace is Grace; you obviously did _something_."

"I didn't. I just woke up and here I was." She motioned to the body she was currently inhabiting and shrugged in a self-deprecating manner, hoping it would help her to look more like an innocent victim.

Grace snorted - and it made Ivy's body look very undignified, Ivy thought. "Like we're supposed to believe that. You had to have done something. It's all part of another one of your schemes to get Sam."

Her voice became very shrill at the end and Ethan automatically snapped, "Mother!" He stopped about halfway through the word, looked utterly baffled, and tried to correct himself. "I mean Mrs. Bennett. Umm Grace. Umm . . ."

Gwen patted Ethan on the hand comfortingly, then firmly interrupted him before he could make a further fool out of himself. Looking Ivy directly in the eye, she said, "It is a little hard to believe. I mean people don't just wake up in each other's bodies for no reason."

"But that's what happened." Ivy had no idea how to prove her innocence, which in itself ought to have tipped off the others. She always had an excuse for her own schemes, even if the excuses didn't always work as well as she hoped.

"It's Harmony," Rebecca supplied. "These things happen all the time. Houses being sucked into hell . . . strange mists . . . I don't see why Ivy and Grace switching bodies is any different."

Ivy looked at her unlikely ally suspiciously. Rebecca was standing at the side of the room, drinking heavily from a snifter. Where she had gotten the drink Ivy didn't know; Goody Grace was not the sort to stock heavy alcohol in her house. "Exactly. Thank you, Rebecca." Her voice betrayed her bewilderment over why Julian's mistress wanted to help her.

Hearing the unspoken question, Rebecca slammed down the glass, spilling some onto her hands, and said vehemently, "There's no way I'm sharing a house and an ex-husband with Grace Bennett!" She pointed at Ivy, stopped, and moved the finger to Grace in Ivy's body, at which point her finger faltered and began to droop.

Ivy decided to give her the benefit of the doubt - just this once since she was helping Ivy - and assume the confusion was due to the fact that Rebecca was clearly well on her way to being completely sloshed.

"Even if that's true, that still doesn't explain why you pretended to be Grace and didn't tell anyone." Sam's voice was rough with anger.

"That's because she's behind it! It was all one of her schemes to get Sam." Grace was practically in hysterics and Ivy got the feeling that the only thing that was stopping her from attacking was the paralysis.

"At first I thought it was a dream," Ivy replied, a bit angry. For once she was innocent and she wasn't going to take the blame for something she didn't do. "What else could it be? Like Gwen said, you don't just wake up to find yourself in somebody else's body. By the time I figured out it wasn't a dream - well, who'd believe me? You'd all think I was crazy."

Ethan and Gwen shifted uncomfortably while Eve said, hypocritically Ivy learned quickly, "You expect us to believe that, Ivy?"

At the same time, Rebecca slurred, "Ivy's right. We were calling in the men with the straight jackets when Ivy said she wasn't Ivy." She drained the rest of her drink, then looked down at the empty glass despondently. "Grace is Ivy is Grace. I need another drink."

* * *

"Timmy's confused."

Tabitha tore her attention away from the drama in the Bennett's living room. "What's confusing?"

"If Ivy didn't cast the spell, then how did she and Grace switch bodies?"

"Haven't you been paying attention, Timmy? Kay cast the spell," Tabitha explained impatiently.

"But why would Kay want to switch Grace and Ivy's bodies, Princess?"

"Kay thought she was casting a spell to get Zombie Blondie back under control, but she had the wrong book and the wrong spell."

"That's the other thing Timmy doesn't understand," the Pinocchian boy said. "How did that book get into Princess' attic? Timmy's never seen _Spells of Suffering_ before."

"That's where _I_ come in."

Tabitha silently groaned before turning around to face the fake Charity. If there was one thing the zombie knew, it was how to make an entrance. She had struck a pose against the doorpost, arms outstretched as if to say "ta-da!"

"Zombie Charity! What do you have to do with this mess?" Timmy exclaimed.

Tabitha rolled her eyes. As much as she loved the lad, some days it was obvious he had stuffing in the place of brains.

Zombie Charity sauntered over. "I knew it was only a matter of time before Kay tried something. She's been getting too bossy lately. So I planted the fake book."

"But why did Zombie Charity want to switch Grace and Ivy?"

"I didn't. At least that wasn't the plan, just a happy byproduct. I just wanted to spread evil and chaos. Our friends in the basement have filled me in on what's happened, and what a good job I've done, if I do say so myself!" She squealed and clapped her hands.

"It has been fun," Tabitha admitted. She sighed. "Pity it won't last."

"Why won't it last?" Timmy started to ask, but Zombie Charity, tired of the explanations, shushed him. "We're missing the fun!" She pushed Tabitha aside and peered into the scrying bowl. Tabitha thought of saying something, but was also anxious to see what was happening, so let it lie. She stared into the water and allowed herself to be drawn back into the drama unfolding next door.

* * *

"That has nothing to do with why you didn't tell anyone," Grace snapped. "You aren't fooling anyone, Ivy. This was all one of your schemes. I don't know how you did it, but it's all your fault."

"Now listen," Ivy started, losing her patience. "I had nothing to do with it. I have no idea how this happened or how to get it to stop. Do you think I _like_ being stuck in your body? Seeing your face whenever I look in the mirror? I don't. I want my own body back but I have no idea how to get it." As she spoke, she too a few purposeful steps closer to Grace. Sam hurried over to restrain her, but as it turned out, it wasn't Ivy he had to worry about.

Grace, in a move Ivy thought physically impossible, launched herself out of her chair and knocked Ivy to the ground. "Give me back my body," she screeched. Ivy felt Grace's thumbs press into her throat. She couldn't breath. Everyone was shouting, but Ivy could make out what anyone was saying.

Her last thought was that the pressure on her throat was lessening, and then everything went black.

End Part Five


	6. Bittersweet End

**Disclaimer: I do not belong the characters or anything else you recognize in this fic. Passions belongs to NBC, JER and a couple of other people, I'm sure. I am not making any money off of this. I write fanfic purely for pleasure, although I'm not opposed to receiving feedback :)**

**Posted: Wednesday, July 9, 2003**

** Summary: A spell gone awry leaves both Grace and Ivy acting strangely. Sam/Grace and Sam/Ivy.**

**Note: This is my first Passions fanfic (although since I started it and since I finished it, I wrote several other, shorter and complete Passions fics). I hope you enjoyed it. It takes place after Grace and John did the DNA test to determine whether or not he was her son, but since it doesn't deal with any of the stuff after Theresa declares herself Mrs. Julian Crane, let's just say it branches off there. I have, however, messed with the timeline a bit and had Grace's conversation about Kay's feelings for Miguel happen already.**

**Also note that I have Support Services. That means that if you want to receive notice of when my stories and/or chapters, add me to your Author Alerts. Even if you don't have Support Services, you will receive an e-mail when I update.**

* * *

**Corpus et Animus  
Part 6/6**

It was the first day of spring. Not calendar spring, an arbitrary system the weather never followed, but rather true spring. Birds flew around, twittering and warbling, looking for both food and twigs for their nests. Crocuses and snowdrops were pushing their way through the thawed ground, the bravest of the bunch showing their petals. The sun shone done, encouraging the sleeping trees to grow their first buds.

Ivy watched it all from a window of the bleak Crane mansion.

The door opened behind her following a tentative knock, but Ivy didn't turn around to see who was eager enough to see her to come in without waiting for an invitation. She didn't even turn around when the visitor spoke, revealing himself to be Sam. "We've finished the investigation and have decided not to press charged."

"That's nice. I've decided not to press charges against Grace, either," Ivy said, feigning indifference.

"Damnit, Ivy, you know that was an accident."

"She was strangling me, Sam. It was attempted murder. I'd still have the bruises, except I seem to have left them behind when I switched bodies. Perhaps you can check your wife's neck when you go home tonight. I hope they hurt," she added viciously.

"It wasn't Grace's fault." Same old Sam, always trying to defend his perfect Grace. "Eve says that she was suffering from withdrawal - you were - your body was suffering from withdrawal from the painkillers you've been on - and that, along with the shock of finding herself in your body, made Grace lash out irrationally."

"Convenient diagnosis. If the situation was reversed, I wonder what the good Dr. Russell would have said? She wouldn't have blamed it on shock and withdrawal and said I was just being irrational. Doubtlessly she would have found a way to place all the blame on me as usual."

"Well, it's not exactly unfounded, is it? You have hatched more than one scheme to separate me and Grace."

"But have I ever tried to kill her?" Sam didn't answer. "How about this time? Police charges aside - and I'm still not sure what you had planned to charge me with - do you still blame me for what happened?"

"Grace does."

"I didn't ask about Grace, I asked about you."

There was a long, drawn out pause before Sam finally admitted, "No."

At last Ivy turned from the window to look at him. "Thank you," she whispered; and she meant it.

"We still don't know how - I mean we don't know what happened. Do you - do you have any idea?"

Ivy studied him for a minute before deciding he was honestly curious and it wasn't a thinly veiled attempt at accusing her again. Besides, he looked almost boyish when he was stuttering bashfully.

She waited another minute, gathering her wits, before she started. She hadn't told anyone else her story yet. Nobody else had asked (accusations were another thing all together and Ivy didn't deem them important enough to count). "The day before I had been feeling . . . strange. Distant. Distracted. Three times I missed Rebecca making a jab at me.

"That night I went to bed early and my dreams . . . my dreams were strange. You know that feeling when you're feverish and trying to sleep? You're awake, but you think you're asleep. You're dreaming, but you feel awake. It was almost like that. I was neither here nor there, and I remember feeling like I was being pulled . . .

"When I woke up, you were lying next to me. I really and truly thought it was a dream at first. Even when I began to suspect it wasn't, I had no idea what was really going on. It was hours before I admitted that I was in Grace's body, that it was real and it wasn't a dream. No one else was home. I didn't know what to do. I was scared."

"You could have told someone," Sam said.

"That's what Grace did and look where it got her: drugged and believed crazy. No, I had to play along."

"You didn't have to pretend to be Grace. I may have been fooled for a couple of days, but do you really think I never would have noticed that you weren't my wife?"

Ivy debated whether to tell him the real reason behind the pretense, then deciding she had nothing to lose, plunged ahead. "The point wasn't to trick you into thinking I was Grace, it was to remind you what we had together. To make you fall back in love with me."

"It didn't work. Everything we did - _everything_, Ivy - " He put such emphasis on the word that Ivy knew he was referring to their night together, "I only did because I thought you were Grace."

"It worked," Ivy insisted.

"I still love Grace. I have always loved Grace," Sam said, mercilessly.

"Then why did you call my name?"

Silence descended after Ivy's cry, broken only by the birds hopping around outside, their nails scraping against the eaves. Sam regained control over the muscles in his jaw first, working it open and shut before he finally was able to co-ordinate the movement with his vocal cords. "I don't know what you're talking about - I didn't - I wouldn't - I love Grace." Back to that key phrase again.

"But you knew it was me. You might not have admitted it, but deep down you know. You _knew_ it was me."

"I didn't know it was you," Sam denied desperately. "I couldn't."

"After we made love, you told me you loved me. _Me_. Ivy. You said, 'I love you, Ivy.' There's no mistaking that, Sam."

"I was half asleep. I didn't know what I was saying," Sam argued.

"On the contrary, Sam," Ivy said, "I think you knew better then than when you were ever awake. Grace and I aren't anything alike, except that we both love you. You know me better than anyone else in the world. Your subconscious was only saying what your conscious mind was too afraid to say."

"I love Grace." Instead of the usual passionate declaration, it came out more as a whimpered question.

"You're afraid. You're afraid to leave Grace and your normal life. You're afraid to come back to me, come back to a love so strong it's survived twenty-five years and two marriages. You're afraid to admit that no matter how much you try to convince yourself that you love Grace, deep inside you yearn for your first love. Me." Though her voice started strong, by the last word it was scarcely louder than a whisper.

Trying to regain control over his emotions, gathering all the strength he had, Sam looked Ivy squarely in the eyes. He just hoped he would come off sounding sincere enough that Ivy would believe him. "You're wrong."

Sam walked out of the room without another look backwards. He strode out of Ivy's life again, a powerful, if useless, gesture. They both knew he would be dragged back into the Cranes' lives within a matter of weeks. But it was the symbolism that was important. He walked out of the room and left Ivy alone n the forbidding, impersonal Crane mansion. He left Ivy alone.

Alone.

Again.

As always.

The End

* * *

_Yes, this is the end, the end. There will be no more. No sequel, nothing. (It took me almost sixteen months to write these short six parts, do you really think I have it in me to write anymore?) No, it didn't turn out Sam/Ivy. Well, not exactly. As Ivy said, Sam's too afraid. Hey, if anyone else wants to write a sequel, wants to write them a happy ending, go ahead. I'd be glad to read it. They deserve a happy ending; I just don't seem to be able to give it to them, unfortunately._


End file.
